Executive Summary
The United Arab Emirates’ government has made impressive steps towards modernizing the education system in line with the emerging changes in various sectors of the economy. However, the issue of teacher satisfaction and motivation is yet to be given proper emphasis. In this study, the researcher focused on determining the degree of teacher satisfaction in relation to principles and styles of the leaders embraced by the management unit at the school level. The researcher used secondary data to inform this study. Imaginary data was also used to support the analysis process. The analysis was done using SPSS and the findings presented in charts and figures. The study found out that teacher satisfaction is significantly affected by leadership styles and principles. It is recommended that the administrators should learn to engage teachers and treat them with respect.
Introduction
Background
Teachers working in government schools in Abu Dhabi play a critical role in nurturing young children to become responsible members of the society who can lead the country into a better future. Some of them work under extreme conditions, but that does not stop them from ensuring that they pass knowledge and instill discipline in their students (Hajar, 2016). However, it is important to note that the quality of services that teachers deliver directly depends on their levels of motivation. A study by Lynch (2016) found out that highly satisfied teachers are more likely to deliver excellent work than their colleagues who are not satisfied.
When teachers are satisfied, they get the drive to go the extra mile in ensuring that their students are given the best. According to Mehisto and Genesee (2015), the government of Abu Dhabi has come up with various programs meant to ensure that teachers in government schools remain satisfied as a way of improving their level of performance. KaradaÄŸ (2015) says that there are various ways of ensuring that teachers are satisfied. One can use monetary and non-monetary approaches to ensure that workers feel appreciated and motivated enough to go the extra mile in every responsibility assigned to them. In this paper, the researcher is interested in determining the degree to which teachers in Abu Dhabi Government Schools get satisfied with the leadership principles and styles.
Significance and Purpose of Study
This study is very important in defining the policies that should be embraced by the Abu Dhabi schools. According to KaradaÄŸ (2015), the concept of leadership is as old as the origin of the human being. Biblical accounts and historical facts tell about how leadership is important in organizing and coordinating people towards a common cause. The Egyptian Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire are just but examples of great kingdoms that ruled the world because of great leadership. Teachers in public schools within Abu Dhabi are under the direct leadership of various administrators, from the regional level to the national level (Mehisto and Genesee 2015).
At the school level, teachers are directly under the leadership of school administrators. These administrators have supervisory roles over these teachers, and they are expected to address the concerns that may arise within the institution. The manner in which they conduct their supervisory roles and how they relate to the teachers define the level of teachers’ satisfaction. On the other hand, the approach taken by the superior officers within the ministry of education directly affects the approach that these administrators take when supervising the work of teachers.
The stakeholders must understand that the manners in which teachers are treated directly affect their satisfaction levels and hence the quality of services they deliver (Rubie-Davies 2015,). Using theories such as Transformational Leadership Principles and the Great Man Theory, the research will investigate how leadership affects teachers in Abu Dhabi public schools.
Problem Definition
The education sector is very important because it prepares the younger generation to be ready to take our society to the next level. Teachers are expected to not only educate but also counsel and guide the learners towards a greater future. Teachers are expected to identity the unique skills and talents of their students. They are also expected to help them develop the talents in a way that will benefit them and the society.
Teachers are also expected to work closely with parents to help students who have psychological problems to overcome their conditions and lead normal lives. Hajar (2016) says that stakeholders also expect teachers to instill discipline among the children. The important role that teachers play makes it necessary to ensure that they are always satisfied at work. However, it is unfortunate that little attention is often paid by the relevant stakeholders to ensure that teachers are satisfied at work. The leadership approach that is currently used pays more emphasis on the need to supervise them than to offer leadership that is satisfactory to them (Rubie-Davies 2015,).
In this study, the researcher wants to determine how this approach can be changed. The stakeholders in the field of education must ensure that proper leadership is offered to these teachers to ensure that they remain satisfied. This way, they are able to offer quality services to the learners at all times (Rossman 2014). This topic was chosen because of the need to find ways of motivating teachers so that they can deliver best services to their students.
Research Questions
According to Fowler (2014), when conducting a research, it is important to come up with objectives. The objectives clearly define what the research project seeks to achieve when it is finalized. The main goal of the research project was to determine the degree of teacher satisfaction in relation to the leadership principles and styles applied in Abu Dhabi government schools. The following are the goals for this research:
- To determine the leadership principles and styles used by government schools administrators in Abu Dhabi.
- To determine the level of satisfaction of teachers in Abu Dhabi government schools.
- To establish the relationship between teacher satisfaction and leadership principles and styles in government schools in Abu Dhabi.
- To come up with recommendations on how the administrators can embrace leadership principles and styles that can promote teacher satisfaction.
Research Objectives
It is necessary to have research questions that will guide the important process of data collection. Fowler (2014) says that research questions help a researcher to know the specific information needed from the imaginary and secondary sources. They help in eliminating cases where irrelevant data is collected from the participants or from secondary data sources. The following are the research questions that were developed based on the set research objectives:
- What are the leadership principles and styles used by the government schools administrators in Abu Dhabi?
- What is the level of satisfaction of teachers in Abu Dhabi government schools?
- What is the relationship between teacher satisfaction and leadership principles and styles in government schools in Abu Dhabi?
To achieve the above objectives, the research will be conducted in selected schools within the Abu Dhabi.
Literature Review
Understanding the Concept of Leadership
According to Normore, Long, and Javidi (2016), leadership refers to the art of offering guidance to others in an organizational or team setting. Leadership is a concept that has attracted the attention of many scholars over the past several years. It is not something that is unique to humans. Animals have also demonstrated high level of leadership as they try to survive in the harsh environment.
Hajar (2016) says that an organization’s success often depends on its leadership. When one is entrusted with the noble role of being a leader, it does not mean that he or she is put in a position of giving commands. Leadership does not involve dictating what should be done, when and how. It entails being a servant to others and offering them the vision they need. Leadership is a service to people who entrust one with the position. It entails making difficult decisions for the benefit of everyone.
It requires an individual to be selfless and able to take a direction that may not be pleasing to the leader as long as it will benefit the majority. According to Styron and Styron (2017), being a leader is a very demanding job. One must be capable of seeing what others do not. A leader must be capable of owning up to his or her mistakes and the mistakes that the team members commit (Ali & Dahya 2015). Given that a leader is expected to have a vision for the team, he or she must be a constant dreamer. A leader should be able to visualize a better future for the people and come up with a comprehensive plan that can help the team or organization work towards achieving the dream (Selley 2012).
In the current competitive business environment, managers are under pressure to embrace leadership as a way of motivating the employees towards a greater success. A manager directs, instructs, and can sometimes take punitive measures if one fails to meet the set expectations. On the other hand, a leader guides and offers emotional support and when one is unable to meet the set expectation, he or she will motivate that person to deliver better results in the next assignment (Quinn 2014).
It means that while many people fear managers, they find leaders fun to work with and they often try to deliver the best outcome in every assignment given to them, not out of fear, but because of the team spirit, the motivation given to them, and the desire to please their leader. Management is slowly shifting towards leadership in the modern organizational settings (Trabue & Trabue 2013).
Instilling fear may sometimes make people to work hard because of the need to avoid the possible consequences. However, using fear to manage people is not a sustainable approach. With time, Lynch (2016) says that people get to understand how to overcome the fear and when that happens, they will have no drive to deliver good results in the workplace. Others get to learn how to manipulate the threat and to have their way. The aim of the people now changes from achieving the organizational goals to working towards eliminating or avoiding the threat (Rossman 2014). It means that as long as the threat is eliminated, then they find no meaning going an extra mile to deliver good results.
According to Tandon (2015), there has been an argument as to whether leadership is a trait that one is born with or an acquired trait based on one’s socio-economic and cultural forces. While a section of scholars have argued that some people are born with some characteristics that naturally make them leaders, other scholars argue that the trait is acquired based on the environmental forces one is exposed to over a given period.
According to Mohler (2012), it is true that some individuals are born with unique characteristics that make them likely to become leaders. However, they still have to learn a number of things within their environment to become leaders. They have to learn to be trustworthy individuals, fearless and visionary, selfless and focused, and able to work with people from diversified backgrounds. These are the traits, which they have to learn to be great leaders. As Karadağ (2015) says, sometimes one needs to be exposed to leadership to become one. One needs to understand the expectations of the followers, how the interest of a leader sometimes conflicts with that of the followers, and what can be done to ensure that the conflicts are addressed in the best way possible to the interest of the masses. It is important to look at the Great Man Theory and its relevance in the modern-day society.
Great Man Theory
According to David, Boniwell, and Ayers (2013), Great Man Theory holds that some people are born great. They have unique intelligence that is above the average, they have the charisma, their wisdom is unique, and they exude confidence and power. Such individuals are able to bring people together and inspire them to take specific actions that may be transformative. The theory largely holds that leadership comes naturally and cannot be acquired through learning. It is in one’s heart. Although one may learn how to coordinate and control a team, he or she may not offer leadership when a time comes to make that tough decision (Ladd 2014).
When a big challenge faces a team, people tend to forget what they have learnt and behave naturally as guided by their instincts. If such a person was taught to be selfless, when a time comes to be selfless and they learn that in so doing they may suffer, then such lessons tend to be forgotten and they will try to save themselves at the expense of the team (Hojjat & Moyer 2017). On the other hand, if the trait of selflessness was something that one was born with, then such a person will not fear sacrificing self. He or she will face the challenge with the main goal of protecting the people irrespective of the consequences that he or she will face. That is why Fowler (2014) says that leaders are always known in times of crisis.
When others make concerted efforts to save themselves from the eminent danger, they commit themselves to serving others. They forget about themselves and the need to take care of one’s self and embrace a bigger picture of protecting the society (Quinn 2014).
Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish Writer, popularized this theory in the 1840s, explaining why hereditary leadership had remained strong around the world at a time when the society at that time was keen on embracing democracy. It is important to note that although the theory has remained very relevant and still holds some truth in the modern society, scholars in the recent times have proven that the environment within which one is brought up influences their leadership capabilities (June & Mathis 2013). One may be born with unique capabilities, but one’s capacity to be a leader depends on the nature of upbringing and the values he or she embraces as a child. Recent studies have proven that indeed one can acquire leadership traits through learning and inspiration (Ali & Dahya 2015). One can learn to be selfless, visionary, ad capable of leading people to a greater success,
Types of Leadership
According to Rossman (2014), different people embrace different forms of leadership. The approach that one takes to guide his or her team to a greater success may not be the same as the approach that another leader would take. As such, scholars have tried to identify different types of leadership that exists and their relevance in the modern organizational setting. It is important to analyze some of the fundamental leadership styles that exist in the modern society.
Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic leadership is often centered on the idea that the leader is the boss (Trabue & Trabue 2013). Such a leader is believed to have authority over others and the decision he or she makes is final and must be respected by everyone. For one to practice this form of leadership, he or she must have some power over the followers. Such a leader must be capable of having a strong influence over the followers that make them fear disobeying him or her.
A boss who can hire and fire, a military commander, a person who is physically stronger than the follower is, or any other power that others fear can enable one to exercise this form of leadership. In such an environment, there is little room for flexibility. All-important decisions are made by the leader, often with limited or no consultations at all. The followers are expected to follow the issued instructions directly without fail. Kafele (2015) calls it the rule by fear. Although many people in leadership positions in the modern society believe that they are practicing a more democratic form of governance, the truth is that this is one of the most common leadership styles in the modern society.
Once one is entrusted with power, they let the power get into their head and want to dictate everything that happens within their organization, sometimes without consulting. They will try to crash any form of resistance using the force available at their disposal. This form of leadership can only be effective if the power that one holds over the people remains strong. In case the power fades, then such a person may lose the command (Quinn 2014).
Democratic Leadership
This is a form of leadership where one entrusted with the position works closely with the subordinates (Clark 2015). Unlike the autocratic leadership where the leader makes most of the decisions, in democratic leadership decisions are made in consultative forums. Before a leader makes a final decision, he or she will try to listen to the views of the subordinates and create a forum for dialogue in case it is not easy to come up with a universal decision.
Such a leader will ensure that the final decision made over an issue is in line with what the team discussed and agreed upon. This form of leadership highly embraces upward and downward communication because the leader does not monopolize power and ideas (Quinn 2014). Such a person in leadership appreciates that sometimes the best ideas may come from the junior employees. As such, allowing free flow of information from top to bottom and back makes it possible to share ideas and come up with the best decisions based on the forces within the environment. This form of leadership cherishes fairness, creativity, courage, competence, honesty, and intelligence among all the stakeholders. Everyone is constantly reminded that they have leadership roles to play and as such, they must think and act as leaders (Karadağ 2015).
Cross-Cultural Leadership
In the modern society, it is common to find an organizational setting that is culturally diversified. For instance, the city of Dubai has been attracting employees from all corners of the world (Locklair 2013). Cross-cultural leadership exists in an environment where there are people from various socio-cultural backgrounds. The leader must be capable of understanding the cultural differences of the people under his or her leadership.
According to Locklair (2013), a cross-cultural leader must understand the relevance of people’s varied culture in the workplace environment. One must be very accommodating and capable of understanding issues from the point of view of another person who may be of a different socio-cultural background. It is also important for such a leader to use diversity within the organization as strength instead of allowing it to become a dividing factor (Locklair 2013).
For instance, the different cultural beliefs often mean that different people will want to be grated prayer time at different days of the week. A leader should take advantage of the existing cultural diversity to assign duties in a way that would be convenient to people of different cultures. In the end, both the needs of the organization and personal needs of the employees will be met without having any conflict (Rossman 2014).
Laissez-Fair Leadership
According to Ladd (2014), laissez-fair form of leadership is not very common and its effectiveness is often disputed by various scholars. This form of leadership devolves power to the lowest level possible. Individual employees are allowed to work with minimal or no form of interference at all. A leader in such an environment is expected to take a back seat and watch from a distance how different employees undertake their duties.
The employees may consult with the leaders on issues that may be challenging or beyond the employee’s control (Wiseman & Anderson 2013). However, the employees are expected to make all the decisions regarding how they undertake their duties. This form of leadership can only be used when handling highly skilled individuals who understand their work perfectly well and need little motivation if any to deliver excellent results. In some cases, these employees may have more skills than their leaders in their respective environments (Quinn 2014).
As such, the leader would try to avoid any interference because he or she cannot offer proper professional advice. Keeley (2013) says that aspects of Laissez-fair form of leadership are necessary when handling teachers. They are highly trained professionals in the industry of teaching and as long as their interests are met, they may need little motivation to deliver the best results expected of them.
Transformational Leadership
According to Covey and Media (2015), transformational leadership is one of the forms of leadership that has been praised by scholars over the recent past. Transformational leadership entails bringing about positive change within groups, organizations, and people. Change is one of the forces that organization and people cannot avoid. In one way or the other, people and organizations must change in a way that will enable them to be in line with the environmental changes (Mohler 2012).
As new market needs and environmental challenges emerge, it becomes necessary for employees and organizations to adjust their operations to be in line with the changing forces. However, Selley (2012) says that people fear change. There is always the fear of the unknown. Employees may fear losing their jobs or having a situation where their current skills and capabilities are irrelevant in the new settings. The financiers may fear a situation where their investment is not equal to the returns (Mohler 2012).
Fear of change, if not managed, may lead to resistance towards change. It is at this point, where transformational leaders come in. They get to convince the followers that there is little to fear about change. Garcia (2012) notes that transformational leaders often challenge the current capabilities of their employees with the view of making them perform better. They get to understand the current capabilities of the employees than convince them that they have the capacity to deliver better results (Rossman 2014). They positively stretch the limits of the followers in a positive environment where everyone believes that nothing is impossible.
They try to achieve the impossible by making impressive and consistent steps towards the desired success. Transformational leaders empower their followers. They make the followers understand that they have unique skills and capabilities that they are yet to exploit and that if these capabilities are fully exploited, then the impossibilities can be eliminated (Locklair 2013). It is one of the most desirable forms of leadership in the modern society.
Teacher Satisfaction
According to Dörnyei and Ushioda (2013), satisfaction refers to a feeling of fulfillment that often arises from one’s expectations, wishes, needs, or desires being met. It is the pleasure that one gets when the expectations come true in the best way possible. Teacher satisfaction, therefore, refers to a feeling of fulfillment that would arise from their expectations being met. It is important to note that teacher satisfaction can be broadly looked at from three different perspectives.
The first perspective of teacher satisfaction is a situation where the expectations of their students’ performance and behavior are met. When students are well-behaved and often excel in the local and national exams, a teacher will always gain satisfaction (Rossman 2014). They view the performance of their students as a true reflection of their own performance. When the students emerge the best within a given region, they feel that it is through their efforts that the level of excellence in students has been achieved. They also feel proud in having highly disciplined students who do not only respect adults but also their peers and are capable of addressing their differences without engaging in physical wars (Rossman 2014). This is a very important source of teacher satisfaction. However, this study will not focus on it.
The second perspective is the satisfaction that teachers get from their peers. Just like any other employee, a teacher expects to have a highly accommodating workplace environment where they can engage as teachers and try to find common solutions to common problems (Ladd, K 2014).
Teachers expect to have an environment where their peers are not judgmental and race, religion, or gender is not considered a divisive factor. They expect to give and receive respect and support from the colleagues whenever that is necessary. When that is lacking, then they may lack the satisfaction they need. On the other hand, when they get respectful and supportive colleagues who are ready to always help and ask for help, then they may create important bonds that will help them get the desired satisfaction (Ali & Dahya 2015). The study will not give this aspect of teacher satisfaction serious significance despite its importance (Lynch 2016).
This is so because the research focuses primarily on the third perspective of teacher satisfaction, which is leadership. Every school has a person who is responsible for the general administrations. The administrators are responsible for the supervision of the teachers and general management of the institution. They are expected to offer guidance to teachers and ensure that the set goals are achieved as per the desires of the stakeholders.
Some of these administrators have punitive powers over teachers. When a teacher is hired, one of the main expectations is to have an understanding leader who is rational and capable of listening to the needs and expectations of the employees (Blankstein, Noguera, Kelly, & Tutu 2016). When a leader is overly demanding, keen on issuing threat, quick to punish, and does very little to guide teachers on the path towards the desired success, then the affected teachers are likely to be unsatisfied (Lynch 2016).
Importance of Leadership in Teacher Satisfaction
Teacher satisfaction is very important. According to Kathleen and Damerow (2014), teaching is a calling. Sometimes teachers find themselves trying to impart knowledge into the minds that are not keen on acquiring new knowledge. In other cases, the learners may not have the capabilities to grasp concepts as fast as one would desire and, therefore, must repeat the concepts severally for them to understand. Teachers may have family issues that may make them sad and less spirited when they go to school. Unlike an engineer who can afford to work in silence, teachers have to engage the learners. However, they must do that without revealing their emotions.
Learners must not detect that their teacher is having emotional problems (Dörnyei and Ushioda 2013). The learners may be too young to understand the issues that the teacher is going through. As such, it is expected of the teacher to rise above the personal emotions and be able to work with students without allowing their emotions to take the better of them. Teacher satisfaction is very important because it defines the mood of teachers in classrooms (Wiseman& Anderson 2013). Although teachers may be capable of hiding their emotions from the learners, when they are constantly frustrated and dissatisfied of their working environment, they cannot deliver their best. They may not steer students towards the success, which is desired (Lynch 2016).
Maslow’s Theory of Needs
Maslow’s Theory of Needs can help in explaining the concept of satisfaction (Kafele 2015). As shown in the figure below, there are different levels of needs based on one’s social status.
As shown in the model above, the basic of all needs is the physiological needs such as food, water, warmth, and rest (Fowler 2014). It is followed by safety needs and then esteem needs. At the apex are the self-actualization needs (Kafele 2015). When trying to enhance teacher satisfaction, it may be necessary to understand their needs as defined in the above ladder. Trying to meet their needs as per the classes set in this theory can help in enhancing their level of satisfaction.
Impact of Leadership on Teacher Satisfaction
Rubie-Davies (2015) argues that teacher satisfaction cannot be taken for granted, especially in the current society where teachers are considering venturing into other careers other than teaching. Teaching as a career is considered one of the most stressful jobs, especially when one is handling young children (Locklair 2013).
They make noise and sometimes they become uncontrollable. Some rarely follow the instructions given to them while others prefer engaging in physical or verbal fights. They do not reason as adults and as such, it is the teachers who are expected to understand them. Doing that may sometimes be stressful especially when one has done all that is realistically possible to make them be reasonable. When other external forces further affect such a stressful environment, then a teacher may feel like completely breaking down. They may lose the urge to be their best when teaching in class (Locklair 2013). That is why leadership is very important when it comes to teacher satisfaction.
Leadership plays a critical role in ensuring that teachers are satisfied. One of the most important roles of head teachers is to ensure that their teachers are in the best state possible to be in a classroom setting (Mohler 2012).
It means that it is their responsibility to ensure that their teachers are not carrying with them the stress from home or any other setting into classrooms. They must engage the teachers as often as possible just to ensure that they are capable of going to the classrooms and delivering the services expected of them. These leaders, as Hooper (2013) says, must understand their teachers so well that they can detect when they have a problem simply by observing how they act or speak to the learners, colleagues, or superiors. Leadership is critical in ensuring that teachers have some level of contentment when they are at work. They should make teachers feel valued and respected.
According to Quinn (2014), in a classroom setting, a teacher is always a leader. He or she must have the respect of the learners and be able to issue instructions to the learners, which must be honored. As such, school principals must make teachers feel that they are leaders. They must feel that they are responsible for the classes they handle and that they must offer guidance to the learners without any direct influence from the administrators. Those in leadership must be capable of creating an environment where teachers feel that they have some form of freedom to do what is right but in a way that they believe is creative.
Creativity among the teachers only exist when they are satisfied with the leadership of their school and feel that their decisions will be considered important by those in power. That explains why scholars such as Armitage (2012) highly emphasize on the need for the head teachers to ensure that their teachers are always contented. It not only improves their productivity but also ensures that cases of teacher turnover are as minimal as possible.
Research Gaps
According to Normore, Long, and Javidi (2016), when conducting a review of literature, one of the main areas of focus should be to identify the existing gaps in the research. It was critical to identify the research gaps to help guide the study in a way that there would be no duplication of existing knowledge. The literature that was reviewed provided comprehensive information about leadership principles and how they affect the satisfaction of employees. They look at the stressful environment in which teachers work and how leadership approaches taken by the management affect them in one way or the other. However, it was evident that a gap exists in literature that explains teacher satisfaction and leadership approaches in the local Emirati contexts. Most of the literatures were published in Europe and North America. This study seeks to address the gap identified in the existing literature.
Research Methodology
The education sector in Abu Dhabi has undergone massive transformation over the recent past as the stakeholders try to align the teaching methods with the labor market needs. According to Moen, Mørch, and Paavola (2012), for a long time, the employers have complained that most of the graduates lack the practical skills needed in the labor market. This research will be very informative for the policy makers and other stakeholders who are interested in redefining the education sector by ensuring that teachers are always motivated to go an extra mile in the tasks they undertake when in school. It is, therefore, important to define the methodology that was used in collecting and analyzing data. Defining the methods makes it possible to understand how the researcher arrived at the conclusions and recommendations made in the study. This section will outline the methods used in this research.
Research Approach
Defining the research method makes it possible for one to understand the pattern that a researcher took in the study. Based on the nature of the topic of the research, deductive reasoning was considered the most appropriate research design. The researcher reviewed a number of theories that exist in this field and then developed question for the purpose of analysis. The researcher then conducted observations and tests to answer the set questions. The figure below shows the deductive pattern of the research that was taken in this study.
Research Design
Research design that is chosen should be in line with the research approach chosen and the nature of data that a researcher seeks to collect from the field (Hajar 2016). The researcher wanted to determine the degree of teacher satisfaction in relation to leadership styles in Abu Dhabi government schools. As such, the most appropriate design was quantitative method. Using the mathematical tools, it will be possible to determine the levels of teacher satisfaction in these government schools and the possible gaps that exist. Some aspects of qualitative research were also necessary to help explain the statistics that were analyzed using mathematical methods.
Sampling
According to Chadwick (2015), when conducting research, it is important to have a manageable research population. In this study, the imaginary data was collected from imaginary participants. Imaginary data was used because the researcher did not get the needed approval in time to conduct the interviews as was previously planned. Given that this was an academic research, the time available for the study was limited. As such, the researcher had to come up with a manageable sample to ensure that the necessary data can be collected from the participants for the purpose of analysis within the time available for the research. Simple random sampling was used in the study. From each school, the researcher selected four teachers and one administrator or head teacher. It means that the imaginary sample population was fifty participants.
Data Collection
Data was collected from two main sources. The first source of data was the secondary sources. The researcher collected secondary data from books, journal articles, and reliable online sources. Imaginary data was collected from the sampled participants as discussed above. Five schools participated in the study. The time available for data collection was limited and as such, the researcher e-mailed questionnaires to the respondents and contacted each of them through the phone to explain the relevance of the study and their role. Those who agreed to be part of the study were requested to fill the questionnaires and send them back through the e-mail within a period of three days. Once the questionnaires were received from the participants, the researcher embarked on processing them.
Data Analysis
The data that was collected from the imaginary respondents was raw and it was important to processes it to bring the meaning out of it. The imaginary data was analyzed using mathematical methods. The information gathered from the imaginary respondents was fed into the SPSS spreadsheet and analyzed. The findings that came out from the analysis were presented using graphs and charts to make it easy for one to understand the information. Each of the graphs and charts were accompanied by detailed description to ensure that the intended meaning comes out. The analysis was based on finding answers to the questions that were set in this research using secondary data and hypothetical data.
Result and Major Finding
The imaginary data collected from the field was analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). In this section, the researcher will present the findings made from the analysis. The first question wanted to determine from the imaginary respondents the leadership principles and styles commonly used in the Abu Dhabi government schools.
What are the leadership principles and styles used by the government schools administrators in Abu Dhabi?
Imaginary respondents were requested to name the most common leadership styles in their respective institutions of learning. The figure below shows the leadership styles that the imaginary respondents noted are common in their current institutions.
Majority of the imaginary respondents noted that autocratic leadership is the most common form of leadership in these institutions. Most of those in management positions often issue instructions and they expect the junior officers to follow their instructions without question. A few others have embraced democratic leadership where they consult the junior officers when they want to make a decision. Transformational and cross-cultural leadership styles are the other forms of leadership practiced by a few administrators in Abu Dhabi government schools. The next question focused on determining the level of satisfaction of teachers in Abu Dhabi government schools.
What is the level of satisfaction of teachers in Abu Dhabi government schools?
The response that was obtained from the imaginary participants was fed into SPSS spreadsheet and the figure below shows the result that was obtained from the analysis.
As shown in the graph above, majority of the imaginary respondents did not register very high levels of satisfaction. Most stated that they are somehow satisfied, which means that they feel there are issues that have not been addressed or the environment within which they work do not offer them the kind of satisfaction they desire. Only a few of the imaginary participants stated that they are highly satisfied. 12 stated that they are somehow satisfied while 8 said they are satisfied. 2 of them stated that they are dissatisfied while one stated that he is highly dissatisfied. The following question wanted to establish the relationship that exists between teacher satisfaction and leadership style. The following question was posed to the respondents.
What is the relationship between teacher satisfaction and leadership principles and styles in government schools in Abu Dhabi?
The researcher obtained an answer from the imaginary participants, which was analyzed and presented in the chart below:
Majority of the respondents 67% said that the relationship is very close while 17% stated that it is close. Only 4% of the participants felt that there is no clear relationship between teacher satisfaction and leadership style. The study has revealed that there is a direct relationship between leadership style and teacher satisfaction in Abu Dhabi schools. When administrators employ leadership styles that empower teachers and make them feel respected, their level of satisfaction increases. However, when teacher engagement is lacking and the leaders issue instructions that must be followed without question, then teachers are likely to be less satisfied.
It was revealed that those who are entrusted with position of power in Abu Dhabi government schools directly affect leadership styles, which are used (Blankstein et al. 2016). The researcher wanted to determine if the level of satisfaction of teachers has impacts on their performance in classrooms. It will be important to know this so that leaders can understand the need to ensure that teachers are always satisfied. The following figure shows the relationship that exists between teacher satisfaction and their performance in classroom based on the response obtained from the respondents.
What is the relationship between teacher satisfaction and performance in classroom?
As shown in the above majority of the respondents stated that there is a close relationship between teacher satisfaction and performance in classrooms. They explained that when teachers are satisfied, their satisfaction would be reflected in classroom in the form of improved performance. None of the respondent stated a contrary opinion. The analysis of hypothetical data demonstrated that indeed there is a relationship between teacher satisfaction and their performance in classroom.
Highly satisfied teachers are more likely to deliver good results than their colleagues that lack the satisfaction. The stakeholders must understand that it is impossible to introduce major policies in schools to improve performance if teachers are not satisfied (Blankstein et al. 2016). They must feel respected and appreciated to support these policies. The following question focused on investigating the ways through which the right leadership policies can be promoted among the head teachers and administrators in Abu Dhabi government schools to enhance teacher satisfaction as a way of promoting the level of their performance.
How can the administrators in Abu Dhabi government schools embrace leadership principles and styles that can promote teacher satisfaction?
The respondents gave a number of suggestions on how administrators and head teachers in Abu Dhabi government schools can embrace various leadership principles and styles that can promote teacher satisfaction. One of the suggestions that were mentioned by most of the respondents was regular training. The respondents stated that the administrators should be taken through regular training so that they can understand various leadership styles and their relevance in an organizational setting.
Another respondent stated that policies put in place by the government also define the leadership approach embraced by the leader. Policies that require the administrators to engage the teachers regularly are likely to reduce cases of autocratic leadership. This will force the administrators to embrace democratic leadership. Engaging teachers is also critical in ensuring that the policies enacted are practical. Teachers interact with the learners on a daily basis and know concepts that can be relevant or not (Covey & Media 2015). Their input can help come up with effective policies.
Discussion of Results
The review of the existing literature in this field and analysis of imaginary data has provided insight into this topic. It is clear from the above analysis that teachers play a critical role in the education sector. As the Ministry of Education tries to redefine the current methods used in both the private and public schools, it should be clear that teachers play a central role in ensuring that the set goals and objectives of the ministry are achieved. Once a new policy is enacted, it will be delivered down to the teachers who are expected to implement it and ensure that the expected outcome is achieved.
According to Ali and Dahya (2015), teachers play a critical role in terms of ensuring that the vision and strategic objectives of the Ministry of Education are achieved. However, it is unfortunate that in most of the cases the stakeholders ignore that need to ensure that teachers are satisfied. Teachers are always in contact with the students. They must manage their emotions at all times to ensure that their attitude towards students and their work of teaching remains positive.
The other stakeholders within the ministry, from the top officials to the head teachers in the schools must also be committed to helping teachers remain positive in their work. Unnecessary stressors should be managed and the environment should be supportive of their work. Although good salary goes a long way in enhancing satisfaction of teachers, Clark (2015) says that financial benefits are not the only way of motivating teachers. Leadership strategies that those in managerial positions take also play a significant role in enhancing their satisfaction.
According to Ali and Dahya (2015), the nature of work of teacher’s means makes them leaders by default. In a classroom setting, a teacher must offer guidance to students, resolve disputes, reprimand those who make mistakes and reward those who show excellence in their class work and in other co-curriculum activities. The students must see a leader in them so that they can be given the respect they deserve. However, that can only happen if they demonstrate leadership traits. It all depends with how those in the administration treat them. If they are always engaged, respected, and consulted whenever major decisions are to be made, they will feel that they are part of the leadership. They will know that they have to think and act like leaders because more often than not they will be expected to engage with the leader and be part of the solutions to the issues facing the firm (Clark 2015). However, when the administrators embrace autocratic leadership when managing the teachers, a sense of fear is created.
The affected teachers feel that they are less significant within the institution as their decisions make less significance impact within the institution. Ladd (2014) says that it is not easy to hide fear. When a teacher is constantly in fear, learners will see the fear and they will no longer respect such teachers. In fact, it can be disappointing to the learners if a person they look up to shows fear before them. In many cases, teachers become the role models of students, especially at early stages of development. At the same time, they are constantly reminded that fear is a negative trait that one must avoid. When they read the same fear in their teachers, then the admiration will be gone and in its place, there will be disappointments (Hojjat & Moyer 2017). It means that the feelings that teachers have directly affect the learners.
According to Ali and Dahya (2015), the Ministry of Education, from its top leadership to the junior administrators at the school level, must understand that teacher satisfaction is given priority at all times. The analysis of the imaginary data shows that most teachers in Abu Dhabi government schools are somehow satisfied. It means that although they are not complaining, they feel that there are areas, which they feel the management has failed to meet their expectations, which lowers their level of satisfaction. It is also clear from the analysis that most of the administrators in these schools that participated in the study use autocratic style of leadership (Chadwick 2015). They may be receiving instructions from the top leaders but they rarely involve teachers to see how the new policies can be implemented in a way that will be satisfying to the teachers.
It is therefore clear that the reduced level of satisfaction of the teachers may partly be attributed to this form of leadership that is used by most of the administrators (Garcia 2012). Those within the administration must understand that leadership strategies that they embrace have direct impacts on the degree of teacher satisfaction. Teacher satisfaction on the other hand, directly affects the level of performance of teachers in the classrooms (Ali & Dahya 2015). When the administrators employ oppressive laws and management strategies when handling teachers, teachers will become frustrated and that will be directly reflected in the classroom. The ultimate loser in this case will be the learners who everyone tries to protect. As Clark (2015) suggests, protecting and caring for the learners, the Ministry of Education must protect the teachers and ensure that they are always satisfied because they are always in contact with the students.
Conclusion, Recommendation and Novelty
Summary of the Research
The degree of teacher satisfaction is significantly influenced by the leadership principles that those in managerial positions use when handling teachers. As human beings with feelings, teachers prefer being treated with respect. Those in management positions must understand that teachers are adults who can reason rationally. They must also know that when given the right environment, they can be self-driven and can achieve the set goals and objectives with minimal supervision, if any. In Abu Dhabi, the ministry of education has come with elaborate plans to ensure that the curriculum is aligned with the current environmental needs so that graduates come out of the learning institutions with practical skills that can be used to tackle real-life problems (Hooper 2013).
In that ambitious program, efforts are also made to ensure that learners are actively engaged in the learning process and that teaching is changed from teacher-centered to being student-centric. These massive changes must be implemented by the teachers. However, they can only do so if they feel satisfied with their work. Their level of satisfaction is often translated to the service they deliver to the learners. Teacher satisfaction should not just be based on attractive remunerations. They should also feel respected by those in power. The leadership approach that the administrators and senior ministry officials take should reflect respect and concern for the teachers (Kafele 2015).
The same will be reflected in the services teachers offer to the learners. The researcher is of the opinion that the government of Abu Dhabi should invest more on teacher training. Teachers should also be allowed to play a critical role in policy development by regularly and actively engaging them. Instead of policies being developed at the ministry’s headquarters, a new approach should be embraced where the process starts with the teachers before the ministry officials can come up with new regulations.
Managerial Recommendations
It is clear that the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders have made significant steps towards transforming the education in the country based on the forces in this twenty-first century. Teachers in Abu Dhabi and other parts of the country are currently paid better than it was the case in the past. However, one area is yet to be given emphasis that it deserves. The issue of leadership is yet to be considered very important despite its relevance in teacher satisfaction. The following recommendations should be considered:
- The school administrators and headmasters should learn how to embrace democratic and transformational leadership traits;
- The school administrators and headmasters should constantly be reminded to engage teachers as much as possible when implementing new policies;
- The ministry officials should ensure that the administrators are regularly taken through training about leadership.
Limitation and Future Research
The biggest limitation that the researcher faced when undertaking this research project was time constraint. As an academic research project, the researcher had to complete the project within the time available. It forced the researcher to limit the sample size for the study. Future scholars should explore this issue further using a larger sample size. The researcher also recommends that future studies should focus on how teachers are responsible for their own satisfaction in a school setting.
Reporting, Timing, and Budget
In this report, it was important to present the information in a professional manner as per the academic guidelines. The secondary sources had to come from reliable sources. That is why they were taken from ABI, Inform, Ebsco, Emerald, and Google Scholar. The entire process took about two months. No Budget required.
Novelty
It is important to ensure that a research is brings out new knowledge to enrich the existing ones in the field of study. This study was an original work of the researcher. Information collected from secondary sources has been cited correctly within the paper and then listed in the reference page. The imaginary data was obtained from the selected participants, analyzed, and presented using figures and charts. Conclusion and recommendations have been made based on the findings from the imaginary and secondary data sources.
Appendix: Data Collection Instruments
Questioner Question
The following are the research questions that were developed to help in collecting data for the study:
- What are the leadership principles and styles used by the government schools administrators in Abu Dhabi?
- What is the level of satisfaction of teachers in Abu Dhabi government schools?
- What is the relationship between teacher satisfaction and leadership principles and styles in government schools in Abu Dhabi?
Data Table
Table 1: Leadership Styles.
Table 2: Satisfaction Levels of Abu Dhabi Teachers.
Table 3: Relationship between Teacher Satisfaction and Leadership Style.
Reference List
Ali, Y &Dahya, A 2015, ‘Leadership style and teacher job satisfaction: empirical survey from secondary schools in Somalia’, Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, vol. 5, no.8, pp. 84-94.
Armitage, A 2012, Teaching and training in lifelong learning, Open University Press, Maidenhead.
Blankstein, A, Noguera, P, Kelly, L & Tutu, D 2016, Excellence through equity: five principles of courageous leadership to guide achievement for every student, ASCD, Alexandria.
Chadwick, D 2015, It’s how you play the game: the 12 leadership principles of Dean Smith, Oxford University Publishers.
Clark, J 2015, The five principles of global leadership: how to manage the complexities of global leadership, McGraw Hill, London.
Covey, S & Media, M 2015, The 7 habits of highly effective people: interactive edition, Mango Media Inc, LaVergne.
David, A, Boniwell, I & Ayers, A 2013, The Oxford handbook of happiness, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Dörnyei, Z & Ushioda, E 2013, Teaching and researching: motivation, Pearson Education Limited, New York.
Fowler, S 2014, The Workhouse: the people, the places, the life behind doors, Casemate Publishers and Book Distributors, Philadelphia.
Garcia, H 2012, The power of communication: skills to build trust, inspire loyalty, and lead effectively, FT Press, Upper Saddle River.
Hajar, K 2016, The effectiveness of school principal communication on teacher job satisfaction, McMillan. London.
Hojjat, M & Moyer, A 2017, The psychology of friendship, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Hooper, R 2013, Role conflict experienced by teachers: it’s relationship to stress and burnout, Lulu Com, London.
June, L & Mathis, C 2013, African American church leadership: principles for effective ministry and community leadership, MacMillan, London.
Kafele, B 2015, The principal 50: critical leadership questions for inspiring school-wide excellence, McGraw Hill, London.
Karadağ, E 2015, Leadership and organizational outcomes: meta-analysis of empirical studies, Cengage, New York.
Kathleen, M & Damerow, R 2014, Teaching and learning English in the Arabic-speaking world, Routledge, New York.
Keeley, L 2013, Ten types of innovation: the discipline of building breakthroughs, Wiley, Hoboken.
Ladd, K 2014, Positive leadership principles for women, Springer, New York.
Locklair, B 2013, 10 principles of great leadership, Lulu Com, New York.
Lynch, T 2016, The future of health, wellbeing and physical education: optimizing children’s health through local and global community partnerships, Cengage, New York.
Mehisto, P & Genesee, F 2015, Building bilingual education systems: forces, mechanisms and counterweight, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Moen, A, Mørch, A & Paavola, S 2012, Collaborative knowledge creation: practices, tools, concepts, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam.
Mohler, A 2012, The conviction to lead: 25 principles for leadership that matters, Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis.
Normore, A, Long, L & Javidi, M 2016, Handbook of research on effective communication, leadership, and conflict resolution, McGraw Hill, London.
Quinn, R 2014, The best teacher in you: how to accelerate learning and change lives, McMillan, London.
Rossman, J 2014, The Amazon way: 14 leadership principles behind the world’s most disruptive company, Springer, London.
Rubie-Davies, C 2015, Becoming a high expectation teacher: raising the bar, Routledge, New York.
Selley, N 2012, Art of constructivist teaching in the primary school: a guide for students and teachers, David Fulton Publishing, New York.
Styron, A & Styron, J 2017, Comprehensive problem-solving and skill development for next-generation leaders, Springer, McMillan.
Tandon, P 2015, Educating the next generation: improving teacher quality in Cambodia, Cengage, New York.
Trabue, J & Trabue, D 2013, Parentleaders: effective leadership principles for parents, Tucson, Wheatmark.
Wiseman, A & Anderson, E 2013, Annual review of comparative and international education 2013, Emerald, Bingley.